Semiconductor wafer plating bus and method for forming

Abstract

A semiconductor wafer includes a die, an edge seal, a bond pad, a plating bus, and trace. The die is adjacent to a saw street. The edge seal is along a perimeter of the die and includes a conductive layer formed in a last interconnect layer of the die. The bond pad is formed as part of metal deposition layer above the last interconnect layer or part of the last interconnect layer. The plating bus is within the saw street. The trace is connected to the bond pad and to the plating bus (1) over the edge seal, insulated from the edge seal, and formed in the metal deposition layer or (2) through the edge seal and insulated from the edge seal.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of forming a semiconductor die, comprising:
 forming the semiconductor die on a semiconductor wafer using a plurality of interconnect layers; 
 using the plurality of interconnect layers to form an edge seal around the die; 
 using one of a group consisting of a metal deposition layer and a last interconnect layer of the plurality of interconnect layers to form a bond pad on the die; 
 forming a plating bus within a saw street, wherein the edge seal is adjacent to the saw street; and 
 forming a trace using one of a group consisting of the metal deposition layer and one of the plurality of interconnect layers to couple the bond pad to the plating bus. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 electrolytically plating the bond pad. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the plating occurs in response to applying a voltage to the plating bus. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , further comprising physically separating the edge seal from the plating bus along a side of the saw street after the plating thereby breaking the trace and thereby decoupling the bond pad from the plating bus. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the forming the trace comprises using the metal deposition layer so that the trace passes over the edge seal and is insulated from the edge seal. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the forming the trace comprises using one the plurality of interconnect layers so that the trace passes through the edge seal and is insulated from the edge seal. 
     
     
       7. A method of plating a bond pad of a semiconductor die on a wafer having a plurality of semiconductor die, comprising:
 forming the die using a plurality of interconnect layers; 
 forming a plating bus within a saw street, wherein the die is adjacent the saw street; 
 forming a bond pad on the die; 
 forming a trace to electrically couple the bond pad to the plating bus; 
 plating the bond pad by immersing the wafer in a plating solution and applying a voltage to the plating bus. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 forming an edge seal between the bond pad and the saw street along a perimeter of the die using the plurality of interconnect layers; and 
 breaking the trace to electrically decouple the bond pad from the plating bus.